Westaway Law Group lawyers are experienced in leading restorative justice initiatives for our clients charged with hunting and fishing offences. These restorative justice initiatives can often replace the Western adversarial system with a process more in line with Indigenous perspectives. After an offence is committed, restorative justice approaches aim to address the harm to [...]
Restoule v. Canada (Attorney General), 2020 ONSC 3932 The Inapplicability of Ontario Limitations and Crown Immunity Defenses to Claims for Compensation for Treaty Annuity Payment Shortfalls On June 26, 2020, Ontario Superior Court Justice Patricia Hennessy released her decision for “Stage Two” of the Restoule v. Canada Treaty [...]
The reconciliation of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians in a mutually respectful long-term relationship is the grand purpose of s. 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. Beckman v Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation, 2013 A vital component of constitutional law for Indigenous peoples is section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. Section 35 recognizes and affirms existing Aboriginal rights, [...]
The modern treaties attempt to further the objective of reconciliation not only by addressing grievances over the land claims but by creating the legal basis to foster a positive long-term relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities. Beckman v Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation, 2013 Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 provides for the [...]
FUNDING OPPORTUNITY FOR TEST CASES ON HUMAN RIGHTS The recently reinstated Court Challenges Program will offer funding for test cases related to the equality provisions of the Charter, among others. The program objectives are to provide financial support to help Canadians gain access to the courts for the litigation of test cases of national [...]
Jim Shot Both Sides v. Canada, 2019 FC 789 The Blood Tribe Decision June 12, 2019 “Canada failed to meet its fiduciary duty to the Blood Tribe and acted dishonourably by putting the interests of the white leaseholders ahead of the Blood Tribe’s interests in the land, which it was [...]
In 1973, the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed that unextinguished Aboriginal title continued to exist in parts of Canada, though at the time the interest was considered to be a right held by Indigenous communities to simply to possess (not necessarily exclusively) and use the lands. This right was also considered to be subject [...]
The Supreme Court of Canada has held that a Treaty between the Crown and Indigenous peoples is unique. It is neither created nor terminated according to the rules of international law. The term “Historic Treaty” refers to Treaties that were negotiated an entered into by representatives of the British Crown and the Indigenous peoples [...]
Aboriginal rights are modern-day practices, customs or traditions that are integral to Indigenous communities today and have their roots in the community’s practices, customs and traditions prior to contact with explorers and traders arriving from Europe. Although traceable to pre-contact practices, the practice protected today will not be frozen in its historical form, and [...]
Since it was first articulated by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2004, the law on the duty to consult and, if appropriate, accommodate claimed and established Aboriginal and Treaty rights has helped to promote the economic development of Aboriginal lands and communities. The duty means that federal and provincial governments must take the [...]
